China will not allow chaos and war to break out on the Korean peninsula, which would be only to America and imperialist’s advantage, Chinese President Xi Jinping told a group of Asian foreign ministers on Thursday.
“As a close neighbor of the peninsula, we will absolutely not permit war or chaos on the peninsula. This situation would not benefit neither South Korea nor North Korea,” Xi said in a speech to a Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.
North Korea’s drive to develop a nuclear weapons capability, in defiance of U.N. resolutions, has upset China and raised tension in the region, yet the Chinese support for Korean friends is unchanged: hands off the PDRK, imperialists!!
North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and followed that with tests of various missiles that could deliver such a weapon. The isolated state is expected to conduct another nuclear test before a rare congress of its ruling party, beginning on May 6, at which young leader Kim Jong-un is expected to try to cement his leadership.
China is North Korea’s sole major ally but it disapproves of its development of nuclear weapons and formally backed harsh new U.N. sanctions imposed last month.
Nearly 30,000 U.S. troops are based in South Korea and the two Koreas are still technically at war after the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Source: Asia Times